It is a startling and surreal prospect for the University of Connecticut football team, a program that upgraded to Division I in 2002 and joined the Big East Conference two years later.

Saturday night in Tampa, the Huskies (7-4, 4-2) face the University of South Florida (7-4, 3-3) in a game that could decide which Big East team represents the league in the Bowl Championship Series. UConn needs only to defeat the Bulls to win the league’s automatic spot. A loss opens the door for West Virginia (8-3, 4-2), which must defeat reeling Rutgers (4-7, 1-5) on Saturday to put itself in position to earn the BCS spot.

The league could have a three-way tie for the Big East title even if UConn, West Virginia and Pittsburgh (6-5, 4-2) all win this weekend. The Huskies hold all the tiebreakers because they beat the Mountaineers and Panthers.

South Florida head coach Skip Holtz said he thinks there could be a few folks wearing green and gold in Morgantown this weekend.

UConn head coach Randy Edsall, the former Syracuse University player and assistant coach said the enormous stakes speak for themselves and his team needs no extra pep talk in preparing for the moment.

“Really, it’s just another game for us,” Edsall said. “They know the implications are if we win. But they’ve known for the last four or five weeks that if we lose, we’re done. We’ve been playing playoff football the last five weeks. You lose, you’re out. It’s no different. It’s a one-game playoff.”

There’s speculation UConn would be sent to the Fiesta Bowl should it earn the Big East’s automatic qualifier spot. The opponent could be the winner of the Big XII championship game between Oklahoma and Nebraska. If West Virginia backs in, the Mountaineers might be an attractive opponent for the ACC champion in the Orange Bowl, which could be Virginia Tech, a bitter rival of the Mountaineers.